After Midnight
by DarkElements10
Summary: Struggling through news that should devastate him and news that should elate him, Danny finds comfort with his distressing thoughts. Danny/OC friendship.


**After Midnight**

 **By: Riley**

 **Summary – Struggling through news that should devastate him and news that should elate him, Danny finds comfort with his distressing thoughts. Danny/OC friendship.**

* * *

With a growl, Danny flung the covers off himself and sat up, running his hands over his freckled face. His blue eyes blearily darted over to the clock that rested on his bedside table. Just after midnight. No wonder he couldn't sleep. He hadn't gone to bed that much earlier but found himself consistently tossing and turning. Not unlike his girlfriend who slept soundly next to him, arm draped over her stomach where her fingers were gently splayed. A movement she couldn't help but make now.

Every time Danny looked at her, when she wasn't paying attention, Rhuben was stopping to put her hand on her stomach, almost as if she didn't believe it. He didn't believe it himself.

She was pregnant.

Neither of them had announced it to anyone outside their family and friends yet. It was something that he still couldn't warp his head around. Pregnant. A baby. He was going to have a baby. He was going to be a father. _A fucking father_. Had anyone ever told him he'd have a baby with the girl of his dreams…well, honestly, he probably would've believed it. Hell, he would've been the first one to say it…and received some sort of a slap or glare in response. You could never say 'You're going to have my baby' to any woman and not get a sense of disgust in response.

It was crass. It was rude. It was something Danny would do when he was younger. (And, admittedly, he had). For it to be real. it was some sort of a cosmic karma, he supposed. Not that he was unhappy, but the timing sure had a funny way of showing itself. Showing itself shortly after his father walked out on him again. No, to walk away meant to physically take himself out of the picture. No, this time it was nothing but silence. No texts, no phone calls, no forwarding address.

Danny didn't know why he kept trying. Then he heard the _real_ news, his father was in the hospital. Sick, or something. Danny wasn't quite sure. His sister, Vicky, had given him the news, the two equally unsure of what to do about it. Or care.

Unfortunately, Danny cared more than he'd like.

As much as he hated his father, he wasn't sure how to feel. He was used to his father being gone. "No point in getting my hopes up, if it works out I'm surprised, if not, I knew it was going to happen," he'd say whenever asked about it. On the other hand, he was still human and wasn't immune to someone who was sick and maybe dying. When he should be excited at the prospect of having a baby, he was unfocused and worrying about whether he'd lose his father as well.

It wasn't fair and the last thing he wanted to think about.

Typically, when he was stuck in a rut like that, he found himself noodling away on the guitar, plucking out small notes here and there that may turn out to be a song they could use for McFly. Otherwise, it'd turned into something that would at least let him vent. He couldn't do that now. No, not when everyone was sleeping. Couldn't go out to play soccer, the noise would wake everyone up. There was nothing else to do but watch some TV quietly and try to take his mind off everything.

Setting his jaw, Danny slid out of bed and slipped out of the room. He quietly headed down to the living room, startled when he found the TV was already on with Riley sitting curled up on the couch, a pair of glasses resting on her nose and a carton of ice cream in her hands. She didn't seem surprised to see him, though noticed her jump slightly when he first appeared.

"What are you doing?" He mumbled, walking closer to her.

Riley pulled a spoon from her mouth and waved it around. "Eating thousands of calories," she replied as if it were obvious. Then she turned the spoon and pointed at him. "What are _you_ doing?"

"Nothing." Danny dropped next to her, bringing an arm up to rest on the top of the couch. His eyebrows came together as he watched her watch TV. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't you?" She replied, making him smile a little. She shook her head. "You know I don't need a lot of sleep, Dan, I'm always awake." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Reckon I don't have to ask why you're awake, yeah? Nerves and excitement and everything?" Danny was silent. "Did something happen?"

Now Danny chuckled a humorless chuckle. What _didn't_ happen. The thought must've gotten to her for she didn't say anything other than, "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Danny ran his hands along his face. "This isn't fair at all. I do everything I can in life to be a good guy and then it blows up in my face. What did I do to deserve this?"

"Nothing, mate," Riley said, making a face. "No one deserves anything in life. Especially not the bad things that happen. They just happen, yeah?"

"Yeah…"

Reaching out, Riley leaned to the side and picked up another spoon that Danny hadn't noticed had been sitting next to her. Then she twisted around so that she faced him completely and handed the spoon to him so he could get some as well. Gratefully, Danny took it and started to eat as well. He took a few bites before saying, "I'm surprised you're sharing. I thought you lot liked your food."

"We do," Riley smiled. "But ice cream is something I can share so long as I get the bigger pieces of brownie in it." She laughed quietly, carving out another scoop.

"You lot nearly killed me for food before."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"When was that?"

"I reckon a little after we met, yeah?" Danny scratched below his ear as he thought about it. His eyes searched the room as he thought about it, pushing through the cloud of anxiety that nestled over his brain. "You know how Tom says you all growled at him for trying to get to your popcorn? You all did that with cake once?"

Riley laughed again. "Dude, cake is cake. I'm not going to share it." Her laughter faded. "And, I at least had a bit of an excuse back then, yeah?"

"Yeah." He wagged his finger towards her. "So what is it now?"

"I'm just super protective of my food, I like to eat."

"You're sharing now."

"That's because I like you."

"You didn't like me at the beginning."

"Sure, I did." That surprised Danny. He was sure she hated him from the very beginning. Almost every time he tried to make her laugh or to loosen up in some way, would be met with a stare, a raised eyebrow, a dismissive glance, or being ignored completely. It was one of the few times that he hadn't been able to use his charisma to make friends, feeling the brick wall she put up within seconds. With Rhuben he at least had an idea—a gut feeling she was more open and proven right.

"I knew from the very beginning that you lot were different, Dan," Riley said. She handed the rest of the carton to him and curled up into the couch, resting her legs on his lap. "All of you. It just sucked that you were getting too close. Rob felt that we were having too much fun and weren't paying attention to our work."

"I hope we didn't make things worse for you."

Riley shrugged. "Would've happened anyway. He didn't always think straight." She brushed her hair back from her face. "Everything's going to be fine, with your baby. Once he or she is born, you're going to love it more than life itself, you'll want to protect it more than anything else, and everything will fall by the wayside. They'll all be clearer."

Danny nodded, listening to what she had to say. Then his nose wrinkled, confused as to how she managed to steer the conversation back towards what he hadn't admitted out loud. Nevertheless, he asked, "How do you know?"

"Because I'm an aunt already. I saw Julius go through the same thing…and my mum and dad when they were pregnant with Sydney. They had trouble conceiving between Pat and No and him and he just made things brighter." Riley then grinned. "And you can't say you're not more excited than anything else, it being your first kid and all."

Danny grinned back, feeling his anxiety slowly start to push away. "I want to be a great father," he murmured.

"You're a big kid yourself, you'll be fine. You just have to remember that a baby is very fragile and will cry a lot." She patted him on the shoulder then dug her fingers into his ribs, making him laugh and lean away from her. "Just like you lot, crying at the drop of a hat." She was silent for a moment. "You know, you should probably be talking to Rhu about this. Kind of the point since you're going to be having a kid and everything."

"I don't want to worry her."

"And pushing a bloody baby out isn't going to be worrying?"

"I can't make her stress, doctor says to keep her calm…" he lifted an eyebrow, a small smile coming to his face. "It's probably a good thing you're not pregnant, right?"

A sly smile came to Riley's face. She batted her eyelashes, placing her hand to her chest. "Oh, Danny, you couldn't handle me anyway. Thanks for the offer but,"—she lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers, showing off the engagement ring sitting on her ring finger. "I'm already taken. But I love you, though."

"I love you, too, mush."

"And worrying is fine, yeah? It's normal. I'd be more concerned if you _didn't_ worry." She shifted to a different topic of conversation. "Have you thought about any names? Boy or girl? Maybe naming after your mom or Vicky?"

Danny shook his head. "No, I hadn't thought of names. Only the ones I wouldn't give."

She sussed it out quickly. "Your dad's?"

"Mhm."

"Well, that sucks for you," Riley said after a moment. Danny's eyebrows lowered in confusion. Knocking his hand away, she, oh so casually, spooned another scoop of ice cream into her mouth. "You've got his entire name."

Danny thought for a moment then grabbed a pillow to cover his mouth, muffling his loud burst of raucous laughter. For three long minutes he laughed and laughed while Riley sat beside him, waiting for him to finish. Finally, his laughter subsided, and he wiped tears away from his eyes. "Somehow, you always know just what to say and when to say it," he said.

"It's a gift. Now, are you going to help me eat the rest of this or are you going to leave me to fend for myself when our trainers inevitably kick our asses for it?"

Danny thought about leaving her to fend for herself then immediately changed his mind. No, he'd had that happen enough to him in his life, he wasn't going to do it to her. Or to his baby. He'd be there for them no matter what.

It was the least he could do to separate himself from his father, to prove he was better. In that instant he also decided to go to the hospital the next day. It may be the only time, but at least he'd know he tried.

* * *

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:** So, I got the idea for this with Danny's news of having a baby, and even more when said baby, Cooper, was born. That being said, this was mainly shown to highlight Danny's and Riley's friendship since it's not shown a lot in our stories (from me or Rhu) but is a strong one as well.

 **Cheers,**

 **Riley**


End file.
